Behaviour Interactive has apologized to the Dead by Daylight community after one of its team members handed controversial streamer TheBurntPeanut the game’s entire roster of Survivors and Killers during a Halloween weekend stream, then brushed off fans who objected. The studio posted its statement on its DbD Pulse account on X, and IGN has the full text.
“This weekend, a Dead by Daylight team member awarded in-game content and currency to a creator streaming our game,” Behaviour wrote. “Although it is not unusual to unlock content to give creators discovering DbD a chance to have a sneak peek at available content, this decision was made without receiving appropriate approvals. Furthermore, the team member’s subsequent comments and conduct do not align with Dead by Daylight’s core values.”
The streamer, who built a large following over the past year playing extraction shooters like Arc Raiders, was trying Dead by Daylight for the first time. Partway through, he found every character unlocked. “Guys! I just got all the guys!” he said on stream. Licensed characters in the game usually cost real-money currency to unlock, so the gift added up to a lot of content.
Many longtime players were already unhappy that Behaviour appeared to be backing a creator they see as hostile to the game’s progressive community. Things escalated when screenshots of chat messages attributed to the studio began circulating, including one that read, “WE CAN TAKE THE HEAT! THEY ARE YOURS TO KEEP!” Some players posted that they had uninstalled the game.
“When concerns about this decision became apparent during the stream, we should have responded by looking into these concerns, not dismissing them,” the statement continued. “We apologize to our community for letting you down. We have already begun reviewing our internal processes to prevent an incident like this from happening again.”
Behaviour also said some people had started threatening its staff while trying to identify the employee involved, and asked followers to stop engaging with those posts. Not everyone is satisfied. Some players called the apology too little, and others criticized the studio for posting it on the smaller DbD Pulse account instead of the main Dead by Daylight account.
It has been a bumpy stretch for the 10-year-old game. Behaviour also recently confirmed that Chucky is leaving Dead by Daylight on Nov. 24. The studio has not said what action, if any, it will take regarding the team member or the unlocked content.
